REMEDI Strengthen Chinese Research Links

November 28th 2012

Officials from the Chinese Government Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) visited the Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) last week.

Organised by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Ireland, the visit was a follow-up to the signing of collaborative research agreements between REMEDI and two Chinese research institutes based in Shanghai and Xi’an earlier this year. The collaboration will see the partners work together in the areas of regenerative medicine clinical trials, particularly in the areas of diabetes and orthopaedics.

As part of their visit the officials from MOST had the opportunity to see the Centre for Cell Manufacturing Ireland (CCMI) at NUI Galway, which is a specially designed facility for manufacturing GMP-grade stem cells for use in human clinical trials. At present there is no similar facility in China. REMEDI hopes to work with its collaborators and the Chinese Government to help set up similar resources in China, ultimately opening up new opportunities for partnership in the area of clinical trials using stem cells.

Professor Timothy O’Brien, Director of REMEDI states, “We look forward to undertaking collaborative clinical trials using stem cells in Ireland and China. This will allow efficacy to be assessed in different ethnic populations and will also serve to harmonize transnational conduct of such trials.”

“We highly appreciate that NUI Galway has been actively developing close scientific collaborations with Chinese institutions in recent years”, added Liya Dong, Deputy Director General, Department of Science & Technology Development, MOST, “and we strongly support Ireland-China bi-lateral collaborations in life science and other areas, and will do our best to provide assistance for promoting the collaborations between NUI Galway and the Chinese Institutions in Shanghai and Xi’an.”

The Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) is a Science Foundation Ireland-funded Strategic Research Cluster, led by NUI Galway and with partners in University College Cork and NUI Maynooth. REMEDI is a partnership between scientists, clinicians and industry and it is the leading centre in the area of stem cell and regenerative medicine in Ireland.